Stave-jointing machine



(No Model.)

A; .1). CATLIN.

STAVE JOINTING MACHINE.

IrmEll'l UNITED STATES `PATENT FEICEO.

ABEL D. CATLIN, OF BAY CITY, MICHIGAN.

'sTAvE-JOINTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming partoi' Letters Patent No` 376.139I dated January 10, 1888. Application filed February 17, i887. Serial No. 227,89i. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I', ABEL D. CATLIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bay City, in the county of Bay and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stavedointing Machines; and Ido .deciare the following to be a full, clear, and

' operation; and it consists in devices for holding the stave in proper position inr rclationto the cutters, in devices for operating and adjusting the cutters to produce staves of differcutters.

ent desired forms, in devices for adj ust-ing the cutters to operate upon staves Vof different lengths, and in the combination, arrangement, and construction of the parts of the machine, as I hereinafter more fully describe and claim; and the objects of my'invention are to provide a machine which will accomplisha greater.

range of work, that will operate more accurately and economically, and that may be easily adjusted to form staves of different widths and different forms. lThe devices I employ to attain these objects are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved stave-jointing machine. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View of the same. l.FigrS is a plan view of the rear lower portion of the machine, partly sectional.` Fig. et is a section at 3 3. Fig. 5 is a side view of the levers moving the Fig. 6 is a'plan view of the cutter. Fig. 7 is a side viewof Fig. 6.

c represents the bed-piece of the machine, and a are the legs secured to and supporting the bed-piece.

b is a sprocket-wheelmounted upon a shaft, b", which is journaled to the rear portion of thebed-piece, and also carried bythis shaft b is a gear-wheel, c,` and engaged with the wheel o is apinion,l c', which is carried by the inner end of a shaft, ,hthe outer end of the shaft being provided with a driving-pulley, d'.

e is a sprocket-wheel suitably mounted upon a shaft which is journaled to the front end of the bed-piece c. A table, e', is supported above the bed-piece a by the standards f, and at a height to be just aboveV the upper portions of the sprockets bdand e, and is provided in its center with alongitudinal groove, f', which extends the entire length of the table, and an endless drive-chain, g, provided at proper intervals with projecting lugs g', is passed over the sprockets b and e, and with its upper portion between the sprockets resting within the groove f". t Y

h are vertical frames hinged by their rear ends to the opposite sides of the rear portion ofthe bed-piece a,"aud,extending forward beside the bed-piece, are provided on their outer free ends with suitable boxes carrying the vertical shafts h. `These shafts h are provided on their lower portions with the pulleys t', and their upper ends pass'upward through curved openings in the ytable and are provided above the table with the rotary cutters t', and a spring, @connected by its epdsto the'free ends of the frameshdraws ilei'fmes at all times toward each other or toward the bed-piece. The openings in the table e', through which the shafts l1. pass, maybe considerably larger than the shaft and suitably formed to allow the shaft to move outwardly when the frames h are swung on their pivoted or hinged ends.

Hinged byone'end to the outside of the rear portions of the frames Zr are the arms ,Z and Z', the outer free end of the arms extending beyoud the body portion of the frames, and j arescrew-bolts, which adj ust the arms in position in relation to the frames. Upon the upper surface of the bed-piece cis pivoted an elbowlever, j, its short arm n extending rearward along the bed-piece, and its long arm n eX- tends outward at right angles with the arm n and is provided with'a slot, o.

m is a piece pivoted by one end to the free end ofthe arm a, and pivoted by its opposite end to the outer -free end of the arm Z.

o is an elbow-,lever pivoted to the surface of the bed-piece ein rear ofthe leverj, and has an arm, p, of a length equal to the arm n, extending forward to the end of the arm n, and is pivoted by its free end to the one end of the piece fm', the opposite end of the piece m being pivoted to the free end of the arm Z.

ICO

Extending outward at right angles with the arm 1) is an arm, p', ,considerably shorter than l the arms p andn, and to the outer end of this t arm p is pivoted one end of the rod q, thc cpi posite end of the rod being pivoted to the arm n' at a distance from the central pivot thereof equal to the lengt-h of the armnp. This 'form of connecting the leversj' and o and the arms Z and t has the effect ofoperating them all in conjunction, so that when the arm a is moved the arms l and Z are moved in opposite directions to an equal distance.

Upon the outer end ot theshaft t1 is mounted a cam-wheel, q', and is held in position by a sct-scre\v, 1,', which allows the cam-wheel to be properly adjusted" in relation to the lugs g upon the chain g.

Ir is a piece passing through a support, .5', which is bolted to the bed-piece, and is provided on one end with a roller, s', which bears against the periphery of the cani-wheel g', and the opposite end ofthe piece ris pivotcd toa conneetingrod, the opposite cndof which is pivoted to the arm a" by a bolt, 1', passing through the slot o,

a is a gagc-piecevhich is adjustably secured upon the frontportionof the table and parallel. with the chain-groovcf, andfu/arc stand ards secured to and extending above the table in front of the cutters t', and adjustably secured to the front side of these standards and across the table is the stop fr, with a space he tween the stop and table to allow the material to be operated upon to pass beneath the stop, which may be raised or lowered to allow pieces of different thicknesses to pass.

o' are rearward-extending arms, the front ends of which are pivoted to the upper ends of the standards a and to their outer free ends proper form and equal curvature by ad Justlng rfhe are journaled a shaft carrying a roller, 1.", which is located between the cutters 'i'. pivoted ends of the arms are provided with stops w', which engage with the standards and prevent the roller from dropping upon the table, and in the periphery of the roller is formed a groove, w, which allows the lugs g' to pass without catching upon or lifting the roller.

Pivotcd by one end to the surface of the table, and at a suitaoledistance in rear of the cutters t, and at a proper distance from the chain g. is a short lever, aai-the free end of the leverbeing rounded and extending inward and rearward; and on the opposite side of the table and at an equal distance from the chain is a similar lever, x,.pivoted in alike manner to the lever a', and is provided with an arm, y, extending forward diagonally, and to the outer free end ot' this arm y is pivoted one end of a connecting-piece, y', the opposite end of the piece 1/ being pivotcd to the free end of the lever iv, and the free ends of the levers are also provided with an upward-projecting stud, s', upon which are caught the ends ot' a curved spring, c. This st )ring :f operates to crowd the free ends of the levers together, andthe connectingpiece y obtains for the free ends of each other.

the levers an equal movement in relation to A counter-shaft is properly snpported in rear of the machine and provided 7o with suitable pulleys, to which are belted-the pulleys t, which drive the cutters, and also aA pulley which is belted to the pulley d', which operates through the pinion c and gear c to rotate the shaft b' and sproeket b in a direc- 75 tion to move the chain f/ from thefront to the rear of the machine in the groove f'.

As the shaft b is revolved thccam q revolves against the roller s and imparts a re` ciprocating movement to the piece r', which, 8O by means ofthe rod 1, moves the arm a" hack and forth and oscillates theleverj, the short arm of which, being connected bythe piece m to the arm Z, moves outward the arm and leftf frame h, which carries the cutter i. The-'85 movement of the arm a by means ofthe piece q causes thc lever o to oscillate and mo've/ outward the lever t and right-hand frame la( which also moves outward the right-hand cut,- ter, i. The spring t, acting to pull the frames zy toward each other, operates upon the connecting-rods and levers to bear the rellers against the cam-wheel, so that the piece 1" is pushed forward by the cam-wheel and rearward by the action of the spring la on the frames It.

ln order to obtain a proper coaclion of the feeding chain with the cutters, the number oi'I links in the chain is ainultiple of the number` of teeth in the driving sprocket-wheel I), and the number of linlis between the lugsg equals the number of teeth in the sprocket, so that the cutters will be extended and receded at each revolution of the sprocket, which also brings forward a newlug. This action allows staves of different lengths to be jointed to a the cam-wheel upon the shaft b so that/thc cutters will be fully extended in the middleot' the length of the stave. In practice staves tio are placed in a pile upon the front portion of thc table with their front ends against the stop-piece 1J, which is arranged to allow' one or more pieces, as desired, to passbeneathand retains the remainder, and the lugs g', which 115 are of a proper height to catch one vor more stares, as desired, carry the staves toward the rear of the table beneath the roller k aud between the cutters i', which, as the stave passes rearward, recede outwardly until the central 12o portion of the stave is reached, when they gradually return to their i`0 rmerl position as the stave passcs,and thc cutters, as the stave passes, trim off the extra material from the edges thereof and give the stave a proper curved form and bevel with which to construct a barrel having a desired form and with a proper bilge, and the stave, after passing the cutters, passes between the rearward-extending ,ends of the levers :c and x', which recede equally, 15 l and by the action of the spring z retaivnfthe stave in a true and rigid position upon the center of the table and in relation to the cutters, the levers moving outward as the wider central portion of the stave passes and moving i nward as the narrower end portions pass; The form of the-curve on the staves is adj usted by moving the screw-bolt tf and the end of the rod t outward in the slot o for reducing the curve'and by moving the bolt and rod inward for enlarging the curve, and the curve is adjusted to staves of different` lengths by slightly rolling in the required-direction the cam-wheel q upon the shaft b.. The cutters are independently adjusted in relation to the chain by turning the screw j, which is passed through the arm and tapped into the frame h, so that when the screw is turned in one direction the frame is drawn inward by the spring k, and when turned in the opposite direction the frame is drawn outward by the screw.

rIhe cutters t" are formed of a circular plate, a", having a central open-ing, b, y'passed upon the shaft h and heldin position by a nut, and provided with the'portions c, projecting horizontall y from its\outer edge and opposite each other, and with the portions d, extending upward from the outerv ends of the portions c.

The outer sides of the portions d are turned off to form a surface curved from the center of the shaft, and ltheive'rtical front edges of the portion are beveled'rom its inner side outward to form a cutting-edge upon its outside edge, and the parts d" are given a proper ineline to form the required bevel upon the stave. This forms a cheapand easily-constructed cutter and allows the edges to be sharpened without reducing the diameterof the cutters, which avoidsany necessity for adjusting knives, Src., after sharpening. y l

Upon each side of the groovef, and extending upward from the surface of the table, are

the longitudinal ribs f, the upper edges ot which are provided with'one or more angular edges. These angular edges su pport the stave and prevent any side movement of the stave as it is being operated upon by the cutters, the roller k pressing the staves firmly upon the ribs, and also allows a stave of a concave form transversely and having irregular edges to be firmly and rigidly supported in its central portion.

I do not contlnemy invention entirely to the precise form and location, as herein described,

of the levers @aand x', or to the form and location of the levers j and o and their connecting-pieces, as other forms and other locations may be used and produce a similar result, and other devices may be used for impartingv an oscillating movement to the arm n.; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isf- 1. In a stave-jointing machine, the combination, with the rotary cutters, the table, and feeding devices, of the lever x, pivoted by one end to the surfaceof the table on one side, and the lever x', pivoted to the table on the opposite side and provided with the arm y, the piece y', pivoted to the free end of the arm y by one end and to the free end of the lever x krear portion of the frames and the opposite end extending beyond the shaft h', the bolts j'f, passing through the central portion of the `arms and tappedinto the frames, and devices imparting an outward movement to the free ends ot' the levers, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. j

3. In a stave-jointing machine, the combination of the bed'- piece a, the frames h, hinged to opposite sides of the bcdpiece and carrying on their free ends the shafts h and cutters i', the spring lc, with its opposite ends secured .to the opposite frames, the elbowlever o', pivoted to the bed-piece and pro-A vided-with a side arm, p', and a forward-extending arm, p, a piece, m', with one end pivoted to the free end of the arm p and its opposite end pivoted to the outer portion of one of the frames h, the elbow-lever j, pivoted to thc bed--piece and provided with the rearwardextending arm n and an outwardly-projecting arm, n', a piece, m, with one end connected to the free end ofthe arm n and its opposite end pivoted to the other frame h, the rod g, with one end connected with the arm n and its opposite end connected with the arm p', and devices imparting an oscillating movement to the lever j', substantially as and for the purpose set'forth.

4. The combination, in a stavejointing machine, of the bed a, the frames h, hinged to opposite sides of the bed, and the spring 7c, secured by its ends to the frames, the lever o', pivoted to the bed-piece and having its forward-extending arm connected with one of the frames, the lever j', having an outward-extending arm, n', provided with the slot o, and a roo rearward-extending arm connected with the other of the frames, a rod, q, with one end pivoted to the arm n and its opposite end pivoted to the arm p', with a cam-wheel, q', having a rotary movement, a piece, r', provided with a roller, s', bearing against the cam-wheel, and a rod, t, with one end connected with the piece r' and its opposite end connected with the arm An by the bolt t,vsubstantially as set forth. y

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of t'wo witnesses.

ABEL D. GA'ILIN.

Witnesses:

JAS. E. THOMAS, LANE LYLE.V 

